The story serves as a valuable reminder that men can experience sexual assault— and that rules of common decency apply to celebrities, too.

"This Is Us" has become a veritable TV sensation since its premiere in 2016, resulting in everything from a nationwide crock-pot phobia to historic Emmy wins. But, for some of its stars, this success has been accompanied with unwanted consequences.

Hartley said that the incident happened when he was eating at a restaurant with friends in Chicago.

"This woman — who I don't know, a stranger to me — recognized me and started screaming, going crazy," he told Good Housekeeping. "She ran over and started kissing me."

Hartley as Kevin Pearson on "This Is Us."
NBC

Hartley immediately let the woman know that he considered this harassment.

"I said, 'You do not walk up to people that you do not know and put your mouth on their face. If I did that to you, I would be in prison. Please do not do that. And not that I'm trying to teach you life lessons, but I feel like this is a really good one for you. Don't do that to anybody ever again,'" he said.

The fan seemed to understand at first, but she approached him after dinner to ask for a photo — and didn't react kindly when Hartley said he wasn't comfortable taking one with her.

"I'm usually really good with photos, but I'm, like, 'I'm not taking photos with you after you sexually harassed me. I'm good without a photo,'" he said. "As she was leaving, she was, like, 'Justin Hartley is a jerk,' but not really jerk — something more foul."

This story serves as a valuable reminder of at least two things: First, that men can and do experience sexual assault, but the stigma against male survivors of assault makes it difficult for men to speak out about it.

The other is that it is easy to forget that celebrities are, in fact, human, so rules of common human decency — like, say, not running up to a perfect stranger and planting kisses on their face as a way of expressing admiration for their work — apply to them, too.

Hopefully, Hartley's candor on the issue will help bring awareness to both fronts.

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